The toast of Tinseltown last night wasn't a blockbuster or a big-name director—it was "American Fiction," the little indie movie that could, which snagged the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 96th Annual Oscars. Shot on location in Boston, Brookline, and Scituate, Massachusetts, the film is a cutting satire adapted by director Cord Jefferson from Percival Everett's 2001 novel "Erasure."

The win marks a surefire validation for Jefferson, who, in his acceptance speech, challenged studio bigwigs to "instead of making a $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies," as Boston25 News reported. And indeed, "American Fiction" beat out the likes of "Barbie," "Oppenheimer," "Poor Things," and "The Zone of Interest" for the prestigious accolade.

The film's plot revolves around Monk, played by Jeffrey Wright in what's being hailed as his most bracing role to date, a Black novelist who churns out a parody of "urban fiction" under a pseudonym and unexpectedly hits the jackpot. This comes after his more sincere works fail to capture the market—a sentiment many a writer has surely faced, making the film's success all the more poignant for the writing community.

"This means the world to me," Jefferson said, accenting the victory's sweet surreal touch, as ABC7 News recorded. He noted that the team made the film "with very little money and very little time," driven by a passion that seemed to so clearly resonate with the Academy's voters.

From the bookish confines of the Brookline Booksmith to the familial tensions along Scituate’s picturesque beaches, "American Fiction" has not only to clearly put its Massachusetts filming locations on the cinematic map but also made a compelling case for the payoff of taking risks in filmmaking. In this case, the risk was beautifully justified as Jefferson used the Oscars' glittering stage to plead for more opportunities for budding filmmakers. American Fiction's victory is a bold underline on the narrative that passion and artistry can, indeed, trump a hefty price tag.